Although our home is all electric, we thoroughly enjoy our woodburning fireplace, which is capable of heating our entire home. We live in the middle of 40 acres of Ozark woods and it is about 100 years from our annual winter fireplace wood "stock pile" at the edge of the woods to our patio entrance.

Trudging 100 yards through snow inspired this homesteader to come up with a firewood holder near the house.

That can present problems as we are often snowed in and cabin bound for several days at a time during severe winters. Therefore, we usually put aside enough fireplace wood near our patio entrance for use during these periods, rather than trudging through the snow. However, I did not want to deface the patio by installing permanent wood racks for this temporary storage.

This temporary storage frame is made from standard reinforcing rod bar stock. This framework is four feet long by four feet high and one foot wide. the base frame is made of standard half inch rebar The two tension, stiffening bars for the up-right frame are 3/8-inch rebar by three feet long. Two of these frames opposing each other will stockpile a half cord of wood.

Incidentally, one should always buy wood by the cord, never by the "rick." A rick is not a legal term for any know quantity of measurement.

Two rebar frames will conveniently hold firewood outside the back door.

The term rick is applicable only to a large "pile" of hay, straw or corn of no specific size. (Ed. note: According to our dictionary, a "rick" is also applicable to a "pile of logs cut to the same length.") On the other hand a cord of wood is a legal term defining 128 cubic feet of wood, and normally refers to a stack of wood that measures four feet wide by four feet high by eight feet long. A half cord, therefore, is two feet wide, four feet high and eight feet long. Many sellers of fireplace wood define and sell wood by the pick-up load-which is usually half a cord.. Such a load might measure four feet high by eight feet long, but the logs are often as small as 18 inches or less in length. This shorter stack width means that you only receive 75% of a half cord of wood, or less, per load. If the individual pieces are only 16 inches in length, it would therefore take three such stacks four feet by eight feet to equal a full cord of wood.

The seller is probably not intending to cheat you, it is just a common practice and the person usually does not realize the lack of legality in the use of the term rick. This is certainly acceptable as long as you understand what you are paying for and agree to the terms. Logs less than two feet long are usually referred to as "stove wood." However some fireplaces are not wide enough for two-foot firewood anyway. Just be sure that you understand the terms of what you are getting before you buy.